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Subscribe to RSSDemocrats say both sides have agreed to at least $1 trillion-plus in cuts over a 10-year period, but the goal is to get to between $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion in cuts and revenue to cover the government through 2012.
(The $1 trillion-plus figure, according to a leadership aide, would only last about seven months before the government hits the ceiling again. Republicans want cuts that equal the amount the debt limit is raised.)
So how do they make up the difference before the Aug. 2 deadline?
Republicans want more cuts. Democrats think it can be made up with a combination of cutting tax deductions for the wealthiest Americans, subsidies (like for ethanol, corporations and oil companies), tax “loopholes” (like for corporate jets and an inventory accounting provision called “Last In, First Out,” or LIFO), and defense cuts. Democrats are targeting up to $300 billion in Defense cuts, but don’t think they will get that much.
Democrats are setting up a populist pitch -- social services for the middle class and the poor versus breaks for corporations and the rich.
"Do we perpetuate a system that allows for subsidies in revenues for oil and gas, for example, or owners of corporate private jets, and then call for cuts in things like food safety or weather services?" White House Press Secretary Carney said at today's White House briefing, for example.
Democrats often talk about raising taxes on the richest, specifically on those making $1 million a year or more -- something that is popular in polls. But the aide said that’s not likely to be part of a final debt-ceiling deal, because that would mean undoing the tax-cut deal the president struck in December. (That extended cuts for two years, which would put the expiration of those at December 2012, right after the presidential election.)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will meet with President Obama in less than an hour and said in a floor speech today he will tell the president that tax increases have to be "off the table."
"I intend to ask the President what he's prepared to do, outside of raising taxes, about the massive deficits and debt that have accumulated on his watch,” he said, adding, "Move past the tax hikes and talk about what’s possible.”
He continued: "[Democrats] don't seem to understand that the voters didn't elect dozens of additional Republicans to the House of Representatives last November because they wanted their taxes raised. They sent them here to reverse policies that failed."
Speaking right before McConnell on the Senate floor this afternoon, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) offered few details about his meeting with the president at the White House. He called it "productive." He then accused Republican leadership of worrying more about politics than the economy in the deficit talks.
"I hope they'll join us to create jobs and set aside their desire to please the tea party and defeat President Obama," Reid said.
Democrats had been trying to make the case -- aimed at McConnell -- that those items (tax deductions, subsidies, and "loopholes") are not tax increases at all.
McConnell doesn’t seem to be buying it.
He also again called on the president to include cuts to entitlements, something that has proven to be politically unpopular for Republicans who backed Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) controversial budget proposal that would partially privatize Medicare.
"Save our entitlements from bankruptcy," McConnell said.
Democrats think it's an issue that can help them take back the House and retain power in the Senate.
Those familiar with McConnell's thinking have said the senator has long believed that if entitlements were to be touched, both parties needed to do it together. Otherwise, the party that went first would suffer politically.
Democrats believe McConnell’s stance is purely political, that his intention is to draw Democrats into cutting Medicare to help blunt the advantage Democrats have currently on the issue. But Democrats, equally cognizant of the politics, don’t want to cede that advantage.
Highlighting the politics, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) – who walked out of the Vice President Biden-led debt-ceiling negotiations – also spoke on the floor in front of a sign that read: "The Obama Economic Record - He's Making it Worse" He responded to the White House proposals to raise new tax revenue through measures like ending tax breaks for oil companies.
"Leave it alone,” he said. “Just don’t touch it. … Don’t force us to raise taxes.”
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Maybe Mitch can explain why defense spending cuts are OFF the chopping block?
This all really does come down to the final piece of the puzzle of the turning this country into a plutocracy...
Liar, liar PANTS ON FIRE
From Investors Business Daily, PUBLISHED TODAY:
Unwilling to negotiate with Democrats on tax increases, Republicans are willing to agree to cuts in defense spending to reach a compromise on raising the debt ceiling.
After congressional Republicans pulled out of the Vice President Joe Biden-led talks over Democrats' insistence that tax hikes be included in any agreement, GOP leaders have indicated their caucus might support defense cuts, The Washington Post reports.
Read more: #ixzz1QWsZ2yXH
GASP,...do I see a Code Violatio?
Inspector, Inspector?
1. How about we only reward corporations that are actually factually hiring?
Right now they're parked on about $2Trillion and sending the rest of us to the poor house, while lecturing about 'shared responsibilities".
2. There was No deficit at the end of the Clinton Presidency, so let's go back to that tax rate.
3. The Bush tax cuts contributed vastly to the Great Recession of 2008, by adding a $Trillion to our deficit.
It was the first time in our history that a President cut taxes while we were going to war.
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.
Over the past 5 years, our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion.That is "trillion" with a "T." That is money that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers. And over the next 5 years, between now and 2011, the President's budget will increase the debt by almost another $3.5 trillion.
Numbers that large are sometimes hard to understand. Some people may wonder why they matter. Here is why: This year, the Federal Government will spend $220 billion on interest. That is more money to pay interest on our national debt than we'll spend on Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. That is more money to pay interest on our debt this year than we will spend on education, homeland security, transportation, and veterans benefits combined. It is more money in one year than we are likely to spend to rebuild the devastated gulf coast in a way that honors the best of America.
And the cost of our debt is one of the fastest growing expenses in the Federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and States of critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees; robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they have counted on.
Every dollar we pay in interest is a dollar that is not going to investment in America's priorities.
Senator Barack Obama
Senate Floor Speech on Public Debt
March 16, 2006
Not according to Grover Norquist....
Gee, I guess Norquist and his corporate funding buddies have alot of hands holding those puppet strings..
NOOO Mitch--the fools who voted for you didn't want you to undo the last 2 years. They wanted you to finally do somthing that would bring some job growth. They made the mistake of believing anything promised by the Republicans. Was a jobs bill the first thing tackled, or the second, or the third?? None of the above. Too busy putting their noses in people" esp. women's, private business.
Democrats don't want to raise taxes for the middle class. Democrats just want to stop tax evasion and corporate welfare. That is not raising tax rates. It's ending government hand-outs. But the last sentence is really off the chart. Voters elected Republicans to give them a second chance -- A chance to reverse their own failed policies such as deficit spending on wars and defense.
It's ridiculous to refer to only two years struggling after the Great Recession as "policies that failed" -- And since the GOP/TP gained the majority in the house in 2010, they've done nothing to improve economic conditions. We all know if the Republicans had complete control of all three branches of government since 2008, the economy would still suck, probably worse.
All the quotes from McConnell/Republicans are a joke. Right, sure, ending entitlements, that's how you save entitlements from bankruptcy? I can't believe Republican leaders are really so stupid, and I hope the American people aren't this stupid either.
If Democrats wanted to "just want to stop tax evasion and corporate welfare".
Than explain why GE paid NO taxes? You can't do it, but good luck.
Ending entitlements? Aren't you being a lil bit dishonest? Reforming entitlements is what is needed. By the time I retire there will not be ANY money at all.
I'm willing to give a little bit to make sure that what I have paid in is there when I do retire. I do not, unlike a lot of other people, believe that legalized theft is ok. And right now; that exactly what SS, medicare and medicade are. I'm a paying for a service everyone knows will not exist.
Too many promises have been made by too many President. In order to save them, reform is needed. Otherwise, again there will be NOTHING left.
Ending subsidies applies to Big Oil, but ending loopholes applies to GE, along with other corporations receiving tax credits for corporate jets, and so forth. So what's you problem with this?
Giving vouchers to the elderly to buy health insurance from the private sector would end Medicare. YOU are being dishonest -- "reform" my arse. The Dems have reformed Medicare before (and Republicans campaigned against them on it). Biden and the Dems are working on ways to shore up Medicare again without privatizing it. So what's you problem with this?
What's Republican's problem? They are the Party of No, even on ideas or legislation they sponsor as soon as President Obama agrees to it. What's the friggin' problem?
If only people like Sen. McConnell or Rep. Cantor could talk about things that would show their personal sacrifices -- if raising the debt ceiling vote doesn't pass, how might that affect McConnell's investment portfolio? Rep. Cantor's college funds for his children? his wife's job? paying for medical care? The reason the public is fed up is because of the economic crunch -- homes worth less than was paid for them, 401Ks that lost value, jobs lost, savings gone, children living at home because they can't manage on their own....and yet to my knowledge, not a single elected member of Congress has explained how he or she has suffered or would suffer.... Is it because these things don't affect them? because they haven't thought through the implications and are focussed on policy? Suppose for example that benefits to members of Congress were cut -- no paid health care, no pension. How much could the country save? How much would that affect members? It is happening to the rest of us...why not insist that members of Congress sacrifice as well?
One did!! Romney said he is unemployed too!
Romney was a corporate hatchet man when it came to restucturing. He lost thousands of jobs for the hard working people. M. Bachmann is supposedly against gov. spending , she needs to give back millions in Pork she lobbied for and received. You do not use the gov. to raise stock prices. I think that is insider speculation, to put money in the pockets of the rich. Has the lower tax rate set by BUSH been better for the rich, oil companies, and corporations, or has it put the whole country in a tail spin of no jobs, no infastructure, no gain for the American people, you know, the ones that work thier tails off to put money in everyone elses pocket but thier own! Scocial Security needs to be paid back, the Gov. barrowed all of the 2.7 Trillion in surplus to balance or pay down the debt,which we were never asked, so pay it back so we can be on solid ground again.
These old "koots" like Mitch need to be voted out ....his thinking is 1958.....its 2011...time to go !
But wait! Over on another thread they are talking about something Michelle Bachmann said! It's got to be way more important than this boring stuff.
Come on! Last one there is a rotten egg!
Only because it's at the level the Lefties understand.
On the debt ceiling, time is running out. Just like last December with his extension of the Bush (now Obama) tax cuts, Obama has wasted the time away that he needed to negotiate, and once again, he's backed into a corner. Obama will get a few token face saving "closed tax loopholes" that brings in a minimal amount of tax revenue, but the vast majority of the budget balancing will come from cuts. And as usual, the Lefties will whine, moan and cry about it, Obama will point fingers and blame others, and the media will act like Obama had nothing to do with (and they're probably right with him "Leading from behind"), but the Republicans will get most of what they want.
The GOP just toys with Obama. That man is clueless.
Except he opened more loop holes than he closed. Like GE, Berkshire Hathaway and others not paying ANY corporate taxes and calling them "green job subsidies".
The tax code is a joke at best. Designed to scr#w the little guy. And protect anyone with a decent accountant.
Congress is responsible for legislation and for raising the debt ceiling, not the President. If the President took the bully pulpit and/or tried to dictate to congress all the time he would be blamed for doing that as well. The current GOP/TP will never giver credit to President Obama for anything (this we saw from bin Laden).
If Republicans ask for any cuts that will damage the fragile economy or struggling middle class, or refuse to ask corporations with record profits and the rich with record wealth to share in the burden, their approval rating will drop even lower than it already is. If Republicans sabotage the economy by extending uncertainty about the debt ceiling, or worse actually defaulting, and the recession double-dips, they will lose any advantage they have in regard to unemployment and any other economic indicator.
$1 in spending cuts for $1 in revenue is fair. May the Democrats stand strong.
"Those familiar with McConnell's thinking have said the senator has long believed that if entitlements were to be touched, both parties needed to do it together. Otherwise, the party that went first would suffer politically."
Politicians act like babies! They get paid to "fix" things and all they do is respond to each others responses. Are there any grown ups in DC who really want to HELP and fix the countries problems? ( my thoughts....... Paul Ryan's the man to do it.)
Dubya tried to privatize Social Security with a Republican congress. No, what McConnell wants is a Democratic President to do it. The Democrat's platform is to support Main Street, so that's not going to happen. Paul Ryan has the lowest approval ratings, and rightfully so--good luck with that.
Clearly there are as many grown ups in DC as there are here on this thread.....NONE.
Keep up your bickering and name calling you mindless fools and we will go over the cliff.
The only way out of this is to stop the arguing and force our elected officials into a compromise that nobody likes, but at least it will stabilize things and form a basis from which we can improve things. That means:
1) More spending cuts are needed - for those who disagree please check out the details of the following 2010 referenced study (mentioned in Michael Boskin's June 20th WSJ opinion)
>Cut spending, don't raise taxes. In a comprehensive study of post-World War II fiscal consolidations in >developed economies published last year by the National Bureau of Economic Research, economists Alberto >Alesina and Silvia Ardagna conclude that successful deficit reduction averaged $5 to $6 in spending cuts for >every $1 of tax hikes. Higher taxes more often led to recession.
2) Revenue increases are also needed - Both from the wealthy AND the nearly 50% who are paying ZERO in federal taxes today (no more free rides...everyone pays SOMETHING with the wealthy bearing a greater burden than the non-wealthy but the days of paying nothing need to end)
We'll all bitch and moan about the results of such actions, but at least we'll not create a crisis of confidence in those who lend to us and the ratings agencies that result in catastrophic increases in our borrowing costs that will push us OFF the edge (once the borrowing costs start escalating we are on a one way ride to the bottom because we wont be able to raise enough revenue to cover the costs of financing the debt anymore).
Or you can all just keep arguing and let it just happen.
Here's some money they could have applied to the Debt:
First Lady Michelle Obama's trip to South Africa and Botswana last week cost taxpayers well over half a million dollars, possibly in the range of $700,000 or $800,000, according to an analysis by White House Dossier
Based on the plane's tail number and a description of it in a press pool report, it's clear Mrs. Obama flew over and back on a C-32, a specially configured military version of the Boeing 757 that also ferries the vice president on occasion and is sometimes known as "Air Force Two."
According to publicly available Defense Department figures, DOD charges other federal agencies $12,723 an hour to cover expenses for the use of a C-32. Based on the distance traveled and the flight speed of the plane, this adds up to about $430,000 for use of the aircraft alone.
Oh No White Collar,
Moochelle just had to take the kids (and friends) to see Nelson Mandella , and to help them "explore" their black roots.
What the hell, she ain't paying for it, you and I are. the Obama's see the writing on the wall. they know the number of exotic vacations is limited,. Watch as they suck up as much super, first class travel as possible in the remaining time of his sorry term of office.
What a moron. Someone ask that senile pimp how many jobs did the Dems create when they controlled the Congress and then the Congress and Presidency. Not a one. Unless you want to count govt jobs. People like Reid are why nothing happens and the American people continue to suffer. All they got is "evil rich" to scare the feeble minded.
Its class warfare, kinda typical at this point. What the obamabots don't realize is that they have pretty much forced out any moderates.
i mean, if you want campaign contributions from Wall Street, you can't actually go for about 9 months calling them "fat cat bankers"
Reid's statement just proves how out of touch the 'bots are.
Senator Reid, so absorbed in politics. He despises the Tea Party so much he forgets the Tea Party is made up of American people. The Republicans, in Reid's opinion, should set aside the idea of actually working on behalf of American people. Will someone kindly remind Senator Reid that Congress works for us?
For those who have short-term memories, or worse try to re-write history, here is a summary of what has transpired prior to and in the first two years under President Obama and the Dems:
"[Bush] presided over two terms of laissez-faire supply-side policies that yielded the weakest expansion in recent U.S. economic history, marked by tepid job growth, weak private investment, stagnant family incomes, and a host of other ills that mounting housing and financial bubbles helped partially obscure.
…since the changing of the guard in Washington in January 2009, conservatives in Congress have done everything they can to obstruct efforts to fix the economic mess left at the end of the Bush era.
It started with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act [stimulus], which conservative senators fought in general and then worked to weaken by stripping out more effective job-creating provisions in favor of less effective conservative priorities.
The House passed a sweeping financial reform bill on December 11, 2009; not one Republican voted for the bill. Senate conservatives' filibustered the bill in efforts to weaken reform, ultimately delaying a vote until May 20, 2010, more than five months after the House.
In May, the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 was introduced. Conservatives blocked the bill throughout the summer. All 41 Republicans voted to continue the filibuster in July, leaving the bill for after the August recess and forcing small businesses to go weeks more with the uncertainty over their financial futures.
One of the most troubling examples of conservative obstruction to economic recovery is their actions on unemployment insurance. Unemployment insurance is both good social policy and among the most sound, best countercyclical economic policies.
Conservatives then repeatedly filibustered attempts to reinstate the benefits, demanding that unemployment benefit extensions be paid for with commensurate budget cuts, and that the deficit-busting $830 billion Bush tax cuts for the richest two percent of Americans be extended but not paid for.
Republicans…unveiled a "Pledge to America," detailing their "new governing agenda." CAP analysis shows that putting the plan's proposals into place would cause the federal budget deficit and debt to grow much faster than they would under President Obama's budget. The deficit would be $200 billion larger in 2020 under "Pledge to America," and $1.5 trillion larger by 2030, while the federal debt would rise above 93 percent of GDP with interest payments surpassing $1 trillion a year.
The bottom line is that the pledge merely recycles the same failed Bush policies that caused the six years of jobless economic growth followed by the Great Recession and today's current malaise in the broader economy accompanied by lots of federal red ink—a relentless focus on tax cuts for the richest Americans."
The Tea Party is a small minority that should be represented accordingly.
January 2001 – October 2007 4.8 million jobs created. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Unemployment 2001-2007 4.76%, 5.78%, 5.99%, 5.53%, 5.08%, 4.63%, 4.61%
......just sayin'......since we're not re-writing history......
how selective,...where are those pesky FREEFALL numbers from 2008. Ya' know, he was STILL president then AND as luck would have it, his FAILED policies really 'hit their mark' as it were.
lmao.
For those who seem to forget, this problem goes back a lot longer than just during Bush 2. We had this thing called the INTERNET BUBBLE BURSTING. Then there was the LTCM Crisis before that. And if you want to look at the lost 2 decades of Japan (based on leveraging real estate too heavily) then you can see that as a global society we were laying the groundwork for the current situation for at least 2 decades.
At this point laying blame is a waste of time. It's no longer a case of democrats or republicans being right/wrong. Its a matter of if you want to stand around arguing while the United States society, based on the freedoms and rights that it has been based on since the US Constitution was written more than 200 years ago, disappears from the face of the earth.
If you love our country then get over your self-indulgent need to argue and instead re-direct your energy to forcing your elected officials to get to the table and do what you sent them there to do...ACT IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE COUNTRY EVEN IF THEY CANT GET THEIR FULL AGENDA THROUGH!
Well white collar auto, I wonder how much money has been spent debating the budget? Now compared to the first lady's trip, which is a waste of money?
He continued: "[Democrats] don't seem to understand that the voters didn't elect dozens of additional Republicans to the House of Representatives last November because they wanted their taxes raised. They sent them here to reverse policies that failed."
No... actually Mitch, we sent you on the chance that your campaign lies were true and that you and the others could be trusted. We went for your sales pitch/talking point/rhetoric that you had viable solutions, were "one of us" and agreed with the American people on issues ...BOY WERE WE WRONG!!! But bet the farm we won't fall for it again in 2012. You and your cohorts are so out of touch with the people, 80 per cent of whom want higher taxes (as you put it) by closing the loopholes, allowing Bush's tax cuts to the wealthy expire, do away with breaks to big oil/corporations, etc, AND having a sur-tax on amounts over $1,ooo,ooo.oo per year. GET WITH THE PROGRAM. Stop playing partisan games with my nation's future!
Someone please hang McConnell by the ba!!s!! This jackazz has no credibility! He's a joke! A real looser!
VOTE HIM OUT!!!!!!!!! GAG HIM!! WHAT A SMUCK!!!!!!
MCCONNELL HATES THE MIDDLE CLASS AND LOVES HIS BUDDIES ON WALL STREET, CORPORATE WELFARE QUEENS, AND BIG BANKS!!!!!
Read the article above regarding the fund-raiser-in-chief> President Obama is courting the banks and Wall St. Goldman -Sachs was candidate Obama's largest contributor $994,795.00
Don't, for one minute, think that this is the last of Moochelle's "Good Will Tours" (AKA exotic, super first class, vacations at our expense.)
As for the rest of you "bumps in the road", you can just eat cake.
Wow. This is what I was saying over the weekend. Identify the issues that will never be agreed upon, accept it, set those issues aside and come up with other ways. Get to work and get it done!
White Collar Worker How true was that statement?
See post #7
...Recent first ladies have often been at their most provocative when they've traveled abroad. As first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to China for the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 to deliver a major address...
...In 2002, when Laura Bush was in Prague on her first overseas trip alone, she delivered a 13-minute address on Radio Free Europe in which she stumped for women's rights in Afghanistan...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041202607.html
Gawd, try comparing number of vacations, or number of times playing golf (not double counting golf on vacation) to other President's and you'll learn the Obama's do these things less than other administrations. Don't you people have anything better to do?
Truepatriot, Bush took more vacation days than Obama has been president too!!
Folks, let's get one thing straight. Beginning with the Reagan Administration, Republicans embarked on a strategy called "starve the beast" which called for running up the national debt so high as to create a debt crisis. They could then present to the people that "we're broke" and the ONLY solution is to privatize SS, Medicare etc programs.
In 1981, the debt was less than $1T; by the end of Bush's last budget, it was $11.9T. That means the last 3 GOP presidents signed TWENTY deficit riddled budgets with the goal of creating the debt crisis we have now. This crisis is a DELIBERATE creation of the GOP to get all the money spent on entitlements into the hands of Wall St moguls who offer NO guarantee of benefits! It is simply MORE transfer of wealth to the MOST fortunate, and away from the LEAST fortunate!!
This plan is SO TREACHEROUS as to defy belief! How could Republicans endanger national security with a HUGE amount of debt just to accomplish the political goal of enriching the already rich?? Believe it, my friends, because THEY DID IT!!!
They have broken faith with the AMERICAN PEOPLE!! In my view, they have forfeited their right to participate meaningfully in the governance of this country because they have betrayed its people, quite possible its security, its economic future!
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo4.htm
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo5.htm
http://www.lafn.org/gvdc//Natl_Debt_Chart.html
http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/06/tax-cuts-republicans-starve-the-beast-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10054/1037783-109.stm
http://www.dlc.org/print.cfm?contentid=251788
The only spend Democrats are willing to cut, cut, cut while increasing revenues by removing certain benefits that only corporations get. That, in my opinion, is a reasonable approach. Republicans want to end most social programs and increase those bennies for corporations so that companies such as GE continue to flourish on our dime. Only people whose political agenda is to create two classes can possibly argue in favor of more corporate tax breaks. Before some begin to fire their rhetoric, I am employed by a corporation as a VP. I can see my employees struggle while we continue to amass revenue. By the way, we have also increased health insurance costs to the employee while increasing their contribution and have not hired any position in three years.
Have any of you wondered why the stock market is bouncing aroung 12K again (and has been for a while), corporate executive pay is rising, profits are good, and 'they' aren't hiring? Anyone look at who the 'deciders' are donating money to this election cycle? Could there possibly be a covert agenda? Keep the economy bad enough for the middle class and hope Mr. Obama gets the blame? Just sayin'...
BINGO!!
the only cuts should be defense and subsidies.
then increase taxes for wealthy, make capaital gains normal income, make income from hedge fund mangers taxed at same rate as normal income. remove all tax loopholes.
raise SS income cap to insure no cuts to social network programs.
any dems who cow toe to t-pubs and vote to cut any programs will certainly pay at the polls!
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.
Over the past 5 years, our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion.That is "trillion" with a "T." That is money that we have borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American taxpayers. And over the next 5 years, between now and 2011, the President's budget will increase the debt by almost another $3.5 trillion.
Numbers that large are sometimes hard to understand. Some people may wonder why they matter. Here is why: This year, the Federal Government will spend $220 billion on interest. That is more money to pay interest on our national debt than we'll spend on Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. That is more money to pay interest on our debt this year than we will spend on education, homeland security, transportation, and veterans benefits combined. It is more money in one year than we are likely to spend to rebuild the devastated gulf coast in a way that honors the best of America.
And the cost of our debt is one of the fastest growing expenses in the Federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and States of critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees; robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they have counted on.
Every dollar we pay in interest is a dollar that is not going to investment in America's priorities.
Senator Barack Obama
Senate Floor Speech on Public Debt
March 16, 2006
Little did he know that by the time he became president, the last 3 GOP presidents would have signed TWENTY deficit riddled budgets that resulted in $11T in debt. Little did he kow that the GOP would crash the country's economy! Little did he know that he ( AND we) would be saddled with a $1.3T deficit even BEFORE he was sworn in!
What is truly treacherous is that Republicans created this debt crisis DELIBERATELY! ( SEE "STARVE THE BEAST" )
I am at the point that I don't give a damn about the capitulation of the democrats on the extension of the Bush tax cuts through 2012. I would like President Obama use his bully pulpit, go to the American people and say that the extension was a catastrophic mistake at a time that this country needs increased revenue. The country cannot afford to wait until the end of 2012 for revenue increases. He must appeal to the American people to either place so much pressure on their representatives to do the right thing or to vote in new representatives who will vote for America.
Ceno.... 1) the taxes increases are ONLY for the rich, the top 2%. Taxcuts do NOT create jobs. Bush job creation record is worse than Hoover's! The GOP voted AGAINST cutting subsidies- especially for oil companies. The last time there was a tax cut for the middle class, you and me, was under Clinton, who also balanced the budget. If the Republicans wanted less government, they would NOT have authorize bush to grow government size at a rate not seen since FDR's time---- some 17% over his term! ( Do a little math). Less government control led to the housing bubble and crash. Why do we always seem to be bailing out businesses, banks etc, under GOP presidents??
Finally, the last 3 GOP presidents signed TWENTY deficit riddled budgets that led to $11T in debt. They did it DELIBERATELY, so they could try to sell us on the idea that privatizing the entitlements was the ONLY solution!! Im worried that you choose to believe things you shouldnt be believing-- mostly because you rank and file republicans have NO IDEA just how badly you'd get screwed if the GOP succeeds in their plans. Just think for a minute: if everything I posted was absolute fact, wouldnt you be enraged by the GOP??? Well, now go do some research on the history of the debt and "starve the beast". Dont take MY word for it-- find out yourself. I did! I could post all kinds of reputable and official links to read the prove what I said. I dare YOU to go find them yourself! I'll give you JUST two:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/06/tax-cuts-republicans-starve-the-beast-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html <=== conservative republican
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10054/1037783-109.stm -- Nobel Prize winner-economics!
What you believe is irrelevent. What the FACTS ARE is relevent. The bush recession lost 8M jobs. The losses CONTINUED thru the first months of the Obama administration! gradually declining, and then the stimulus kicked in and economist agree that at least 3M jobs have been created as a result of the stimulus. You seem to be saying that because Obama inherited the bush recession that he then became responsible for the job losses created by that recession. All of a sudden, the effects of the bush recession were long longer his because his term ended??? That is illogic of the highest order. But this is all pointless. You are intellectually dishonest. You dont seem to remember how Clinton vetoed everything in sight until he got the package HE wanted to make sure he balanced the budget. The GOP even shut down the government but clinton refused to back down! THAT is the real reason that the GOP launched the sex witch hunt that resulted in impeachment.... which 58% of the country OPPOSED!!
Are you saying that the DEMs controlled the House and Senate during the Bush years??? Do you realize that in 1981, the debt was less than $1T, and by the end of bush's LAST budget, it was $11.9T?? DO YOU?? Do you realize that most of those GOP budgets were passed using reconciliation, which means no filibuster?? OK, let's see jsut how intellectually honest you REALLY are!!
History of the debt by president:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo4.htm
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo5.htm
http://www.lafn.org/gvdc//Natl_Debt_Chart.html
The GOP DELIBERATELY created this debt crisis so they could privatize the entitlements.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/06/tax-cuts-republicans-starve-the-beast-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10054/1037783-109.stm
http://www.dlc.org/print.cfm?contentid=251788
I think you KNOW what the facts are and are playing some partisan game. You have NO IDEA how badly the country will be screwed if the GOP succeeds! This is NO game! Imagine, for th first time in history, a political party endangered the national security of this country and its economic future JUST to accomplish a political goals that gives HUGE amounts of money to corporations, bankers and Wall St. I have MANY contacts overseas. To a MAN they are convinced the US is in a steep decline because of this debt and taht it started with reagan. They dont believe that the US will overcome this current crisis. We're going to be a level 2 country! They think the Republicans are NUTS! And ya know something?? they are! In fact, what they've done borders on treason! Just click the first 3 links I posted and you will see the HUGE debt amassed by the last 3 GOP presidents! IF you bring up Democrat control, then you are really arguing that reagan/bush/bush couldnt spell V E T O! They NEVER used it. WHY? Cuz it was all DELIBERATE!
Democrats had control of Congress from 2006-2010, and a Democratic President since 2008.
Democrats failed to do a budget for 2 years.
If they can't come to agreement on What to Cut... then just cut everything, 5%, 10% etc. whatever percent is necessary.
And expand the tax base so that more Americans are paying income tax.
Republicans dont WANT to expand the tax base. That would be a tax cuts on the low income dummies that support them. Democrats had control of the Congress from 2007-2010. The GOP filibustered any changes to bush's budget, therefore the only alternative was to pass a "continuing resolution" which continues the spending from the previous year. When Bush presented his FY 2010 budget, again, any changes were filibustered. It was for $3.1T with a $500B deficit BEFORE TARP was added, bringing the total deficit to $1.3T, which was BEFORE Obama was sworn in! The congress passed that budget because it was nesscary to save the economy. It was BUSH'S last budget! It was ALSO Bush's deficit! So, STOP counting FY 2009 as the Democrats' budget. FY 2010 was Obama FIRST budget, while we were STILL in crisis. The congress passed the stimulus package much like the Congress passed stimulus package shortly after bush took office.
Cutting everything by 5% is silly. There are MOUNTAINS of waste and duplication in the federal budget ( Boehner put the alternate F35 engine BACK into the budget DESPITE it being rejected by the Pentagon AND Congress FOUR TIMES! ( Yes, GE would manufacture that engine at a plant in Boehner's district. ) Since the GOP has been planning to privatize all the entitlements for 30 years, THAT is what they're going for, DESPITE the fact that they are both self funding as of now. That is also why the GOP created this debt crisis! Taxes on the wealthy only should be raised! They've been on the gravy train FAR too long and cost the federal government hundreds of billions!